Face to Face with Oil and Gas: Voices from the Front Lines of Oil and Gas Pollution

The report highlights the scope and diversity of the public health impacts that oil and gas pollution have on the well-being of families across the country, in both urban and rural areas, living near and far from oil and gas operations. It is unconscionable that our federal government wants to weaken or revoke safeguards that protect our children from this industrial pollution.

Earlier this year, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke proposed changes to gut the common sense BLM methane rule, a widely-supported safeguard aimed at preventing the oil and gas industry from spewing harmful methane pollution into the air and wasting a valuable resource by requiring companies to regularly check for and repair leaking equipment.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, is also working to dismantle similar oil and gas pollution safeguards Americans rely on known as the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) that curb methane emissions and toxic pollution from 36,000 recently built or updated oil and gas wells across the country. The derailment of these essential protections would enable the oil and gas industry to continue releasing millions of tons of methane and other volatile organic compounds into the air our families breathe, posing a serious threat to public health.

By sharing the perspectives of seven women from across the country living with this pollution, this report brings us face to face with the health impacts of the oil and gas industry.